Secure anti-fuse with low voltage programming through localized diffusion heating

ABSTRACT

An antifuse is provided having a unitary monocrystalline semiconductor body including first and second semiconductor regions each having the same first conductivity type, and a third semiconductor region between the first and second semiconductor regions which has a second conductivity type opposite from the first conductivity type. An anode and a cathode can be electrically connected with the first semiconductor region. A conductive region including a metal, a conductive compound of a metal or an alloy of a metal can contact the first semiconductor region and extend between the cathode and the anode. The antifuse can further include a contact electrically connected with the second semiconductor region. In this way, the antifuse can be configured such that the application of a programming voltage between the anode and the cathode heats the first semiconductor region sufficiently to reach a temperature which drives a dopant outwardly therefrom, causing an edge of the first semiconductor region to move closer to an adjacent edge of the second semiconductor region, thus permanently reducing electrical resistance between the first and second semiconductor regions by one or more orders of magnitude.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The subject matter of the present application relates to electricalantifuses, especially such devices provided in integrated circuit chips.

2. Description of the Related Art

Integrated circuit chips often include elements which can be permanentlyaltered after manufacture in order to make certain changes to circuitstherein, or to maintain states or data on the chip. For example, anintegrated circuit chip can include electrically operable fuses or anarray of fuses to store critical information on chip, to conductredundancy repair to improve manufacturing yield, or to fine tunecircuit performance through local circuit trimming, among otherpurposes. Such fuses initially begin as conductive elements, i.e.,devices which are closed circuit in that initially, they areelectrically connected between external terminals. A fuse can beprogrammed, i.e., blown, to make it much less conductive, i.e., opencircuited in that it effectively is no longer electrically connectedbetween external terminals Electrical antifuses are alternativestructures which can be provided on an integrated circuit. Suchantifuses typically begin as elements which are essentiallynonconductive, having high electrical resistance (i.e., open circuitstate). Programming an antifuse greatly reduces the electricalresistance of the antifuse to a level at which the antifuse iselectrically connected between external terminals, achieving in effect aclosed circuit state.

One challenge faced by electrical fuses and antifuses used in integratedcircuit chips is the ability to reliably program the fuse or antifuse.During programming, an electrical fuse may require a metal fuse link tomelt under high current, which can cause local explosion with metalparticles scattered far away from the blown fuse or stress cracks toform in adjacent dielectric materials and affect nearby circuits. Insome existing electrical antifuses, a high voltage is applied across athin dielectric layer to create a localized breakdown that iselectrically conductive. These types of fuses and antifuses cansometimes fail to change completely to a programmed state, such that afuse can remain relatively conductive even after programming, and anantifuse may remain too resistive after programming. In some cases, only90-99% of these devices work properly when programmed. Another challengefor many of the fuse or antifuse solutions today which utilize suchdestructive mechanisms is the ability to maintain the programmed stateof the fuse or antifuse throughout its useful life time. In aggravatedapplication environments such as high temperature, some programmed fusesand antifuses may gradually change back into their previous unprogrammedstates.

Moreover, fuses and antifuses may require special high voltage levelsavailable on the integrated circuit chip for programming them. This canpose design challenges for supplying the voltage levels on the chip andcontributes to the overall cost of making the chip.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An antifuse is provided having a unitary monocrystalline semiconductorbody including first and second semiconductor regions each having thesame first conductivity type, and a third semiconductor region betweenthe first and second semiconductor regions which has a secondconductivity type opposite from the first conductivity type. An anodeand a cathode can be electrically connected with the first semiconductorregion. A conductive region including a conductive compound of a metalcan contact the first semiconductor region and extend between thecathode and the anode. The antifuse can further include a contactelectrically connected with the second semiconductor region. In thisway, the antifuse can be configured such that the application of aprogramming voltage between the anode and the cathode heats the firstsemiconductor region sufficiently to reach a temperature which drives adopant outwardly therefrom, causing an edge of the first semiconductorregion to move closer to an adjacent edge of the second semiconductorregion, thus permanently reducing electrical resistance between thefirst and second semiconductor regions by one or more orders ofmagnitude. The contact to the second semiconductor region typically isusable to measure an electrical characteristic to detect whether or notthe antifuse is in a programmed state.

While in the unprogrammed state, the first and second semiconductorregions can be separated by a distance comparable to the width of a gateof the antifuse that overlies the third semiconductor region. In oneembodiment, the edge of at least the first semiconductor region movessufficiently to overlap the adjacent edge of the second semiconductorregion in the programmed state.

In one embodiment, the resistance of the antifuse can be higher than100,000 ohms before the antifuse has been programmed, and can be lessthan 10,000 ohms after the antifuse has been programmed. In a particularembodiment, the application of the programming voltage can reduceresistance between the first and second semiconductor regions by threeor more orders of magnitude.

An integrated circuit chip which includes the antifuse may furtherinclude a field effect transistor. In such case, the magnitude of theprogramming voltage may need not be greater than the magnitude of agate-source voltage usable to switch the field effect transistor fromfully off to fully on operation.

In one embodiment, application of the programming voltage heats the bodyto a temperature sufficient to cause movement of the edge of the firstsemiconductor region sufficient to produce the one or more order ofmagnitude reduction in resistance without melting either the conductiveregion, e.g., silicide region, or the semiconductor material of thebody.

In one embodiment, the antifuse can include a gate overlying the thirdsemiconductor region. In a particular embodiment, the anode and thecathode can be spaced apart in a direction parallel to the length of thegate.

In one embodiment, the antifuse can include a plurality of the firstsemiconductor regions and a plurality of the second semiconductorregions, and the gate can include a plurality of fingers, eachseparating a second semiconductor region from a first semiconductorregion.

In one embodiment, the body of the antifuse is adapted to reach atemperature greater than 700° C. under application of the programmingvoltage. The antifuse can be adapted to cause movement in at least theedge of the first semiconductor region sufficient to produce the one ormore order of magnitude reduction in resistance under application of theprogramming voltage for a period of less than 1000 microseconds.

In a particular embodiment, the antifuse can be adapted to reach atemperature of greater than 700° C. in the body and to cause movement inat least the edge of the first semiconductor region sufficient toproduce the one or more order of magnitude reduction in resistance underapplication of the programming voltage for a period of less than 50microseconds.

In a particular embodiment, the body of the antifuse can be provided inan active semiconductor device layer of a silicon-on-insulator (“SOI”)substrate, the SOI substrate including a bulk semiconductor layer and aburied dielectric layer separating the active semiconductor device layerfrom the bulk semiconductor layer.

An antifuse according to another embodiment of the invention can includea unitary monocrystalline semiconductor body which includes first andsecond semiconductor regions each having the same first conductivitytype being one of n-type or p-type, and a third semiconductor regionbetween the first and second semiconductor regions having a secondconductivity type being one of n-type or p-type, the second conductivitytype being opposite the first conductivity type. A gate overlies thethird semiconductor region, the gate having a long dimension extendingalong a direction in which the third semiconductor region extends. Aconductive region which includes a conductive compound of a metalcontacts the first semiconductor region, the conductive region having along dimension extending in a direction transverse to a direction of thelong dimension of the gate. An anode is spaced apart from the firstsemiconductor region in a direction of the long dimension of theconductive region. The antifuse further includes a contact electricallyconnected with the second semiconductor region and serves as the cathodein this embodiment. Programming of the antifuse device in thisparticular embodiment may involve applying a voltage to the gate of theantifuse to turn transistor conduction of the antifuse fully on. Forexample, when the antifuse has first and second semiconductor regions ofp-type conductivity and an n-type third semiconductor region underlyingthe gate, a “low” voltage can be applied to the gate during programmingto turn transistor conduction on. Alternatively, when the antifuse hasfirst and second semiconductor regions of n-type conductivity and ap-type third semiconductor region underlying the gate, a “high” voltagecan be applied to the gate during programming to turn transistorconduction on. In this way, the antifuse can be configured such that theapplication of a programming voltage between the anode and the cathodeheats the first semiconductor region sufficiently to reach a temperaturewhich drives a dopant outwardly therefrom, causing an edge of the firstsemiconductor region to move closer to an adjacent edge of the secondsemiconductor region, thus permanently reducing electrical resistancebetween the first and second semiconductor regions by one or more ordersof magnitude.

A method of programming an antifuse is provided according to anotherembodiment of the invention. In such method, an antifuse is providedwhich has a body including first and second semiconductor regions,wherein the first and second semiconductor regions have the same firstconductivity type being one of n-type or p-type. A third semiconductorregion is provided between the first and second semiconductor regionswhich has a second conductivity type being one of n-type or p-type, thesecond conductivity type being opposite the first conductivity type. Theantifuse has an anode and a cathode electrically connected with thefirst semiconductor region, and a silicide region contacting the firstsemiconductor region and extending between the cathode and anode, and acontact electrically connected with the second semiconductor region. Aprogramming voltage is applied between the anode and the cathode to heatthe first semiconductor region sufficiently to reach a temperature whichdrives a dopant outwardly therefrom. In this way, an edge of the firstsemiconductor region is caused to move closer to an adjacent edge of thesecond semiconductor region, thus permanently reducing electricalresistance between the first and second semiconductor regions by one ormore orders of magnitude.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an antifuse according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view through line A-B of FIG. 1, furtherillustrating the antifuse shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating operation of the antifuse of FIGS.1-2 while being programmed.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating operation of the antifuse ofFIGS. 1-2 while being programmed.

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating electrical resistance levels before andafter programming the antifuse.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating amounts of current conducted through theantifuse before and after programming the antifuse.

FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating an antifuse according to a variationof the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating an antifuse according to anotherembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating an antifuse according to yet anotherembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a plan view and a corresponding sectional view,respectively, of an antifuse in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. As seen therein, the antifuse 100 includes a unitarymonocrystalline semiconductor body 101, i.e., an active semiconductorregion of a substrate such as an integrated circuit chip. The bodytypically is provided in a unitary single-crystal region ofsemiconductor material such as silicon, although the semiconductormaterial can be another material such as an alloy of silicon withanother semiconductor, or a III-V or II-VI compound semiconductormaterial, for example. In one example, the body can be electricallyisolated by a region of dielectric material 104 which can surround thebody in a first direction and in a second direction. In a particularexample, the region of dielectric material can be a trench isolationregion which can include an oxide of silicon, for example.

In one embodiment, the active semiconductor region 101 can be providedin a silicon-on-insulator (“SOI”) substrate which further includes aburied dielectric or buried oxide (“BOX”) layer 120 which separates theactive semiconductor region from a bulk semiconductor region 122 of thesubstrate.

The body includes at least three regions of adjoining monocrystallinesemiconductor material within the active semiconductor region 101: afirst region 110 having a first conductivity type, (e.g., a p-type dopeddiffusion region as shown in FIG. 2), a second region 112 having thesame conductivity type as the first region (e.g., a p-type dopeddiffusion region), and a third region 114 disposed between and adjoiningthe first and second regions, the third region having a secondconductivity type (e.g., an n-type conductivity well) which is oppositethe first conductivity type. The first and second semiconductor regionscan be heavily doped, e.g., having a dopant concentration greater thanabout 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, such that their dopant concentrations can be referredto as “p+” and the dopant concentration of the n-well is less heavilydoped than the p+ doped region. The dopant concentration of the n-wellcan be in a range of 10¹⁴ cm⁻³ to 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ but typically will be lessheavily doped than the p+ region in any case. In one example, when thesemiconductor region consists essentially of silicon, the p-type dopantcan be boron.

Conductive regions 102, 102′ which can include a conductive compound oralloy of a metal, and in some cases, can include a metal, typically areprovided at a surface of the body. Typically, the conductive regions102, 102′ include a metal silicide when the active semiconductor regionincludes silicon. An anode 106 and a cathode 108 are conductivestructures which contact the conductive region 102 from locations abovethe active semiconductor region 101. The anode and cathode typically aremade of metal, a conductive compound of a metal or alloy of a metal orboth. As seen in FIG. 1, the conductive region 102 extends between theanode and the cathode for conducting current therebetween. In aparticular embodiment, conductive region 102′ can be omitted if theantifuse 100 conducts an adequate current when the antifuse is in theprogrammed state, as will be further described below.

As further seen in FIG. 1, a gate 130 may overlie the thirdsemiconductor region 114. The gate can be formed by processing used toform the gates of other active semiconductor devices of the chip, suchas field effect transistors, for example. The width 131 of the gate 130can be greater than the dimension of the third semiconductor region 114between the adjacent edges 140, 148 of the first and secondsemiconductor regions, such that the gate 130 overlies the edges 140,148. The width 131 of the gate can be the same as the width of the gatesprovided in field effect transistors of the same chip. In one example,when the width of a gate of a field effect transistor on the same chipis 22 nanometers, the width of the gate of the antifuse can be 22nanometers. In another example, when the widths of gates of field effecttransistors are 40 nanometers, the gate of the antifuse can also be 40nanometers. In other examples, the width of the gate can be smallerthan, or greater than the width of a gate of another device (e.g., fieldeffect transistor) on the same chip.

Typically, the gate is separated from the body of the antifuse by a thinlayer 133 of dielectric material, which can be referred to as a gatedielectric layer. Thus, before the antifuse is programmed, the portionof the antifuse that includes the body, the gate dielectric layer andthe gate is similar to that of a p-type field effect transistor(“PFET”). However, although there is a gate 130, typically the gate isnot used for the purpose of creating an inversion layer in the thirdsemiconductor region 114 in a manner such as a gate is used to operate afield effect transistor.

A conductive region 132 may be further provided in contact with a top134 surface of the gate 130 which faces away from the thirdsemiconductor region 114. The antifuse typically also has a contact 124(labeled “Sense” in FIG. 1) electrically connected with the secondsemiconductor region. As will be described in greater detail below, avoltage can be applied between the cathode 108 and the contact 124 inthe antifuse 100 to determine whether the antifuse is in theunprogrammed or programmed state.

Dimensions of the antifuse can be the same or similar to othermicroelectronic devices, e.g., field effect transistors, etc., which arefabricated in the same semiconductor substrate as the antifuse. In aparticular example, the length 138 of the conductive region 102 (e.g.,silicide region) between the adjacent edges of the anode 106 and thecathode 108 can be 0.2 to 0.3 microns, and the width 136 of theconductive region 102 in a direction transverse to the length can rangefrom 0.05 microns (50 nanometers) to 0.08 microns (80 nanometers).

Operation of the antifuse will now be described with reference to FIGS.3-6. The antifuse can be programmed by applying a voltage between theanode 106 and the cathode 108 under conditions sufficient to heat thefirst semiconductor region 110 to a temperature at which a dopantdiffuses outwardly therefrom towards the second semiconductor region112. In one example, under application of the programming voltage thedopant diffuses from the first region to an extent that an edge of thefirst semiconductor region 110 moves from an initial first location 140(before programming) to a second location 142 (after programming), whichedge location now overlaps with an adjacent edge 150 of the secondsemiconductor region. In that event, the first and second semiconductorregions then bridge the gap formerly occupied by the third semiconductorregion and form a continuous semiconductor region that has the samefirst conductivity type (i.e., p-type) that the first and secondsemiconductor regions had before the antifuse was programmed.

Specific operation of the antifuse during programming is illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. 3, a programming voltage applied betweenthe anode and the cathode causes a current to flow along the length 138of the conductive region between the anode 106 and the cathode 108. Theproduct of the current in the conductive region and the voltage betweenthe anode and cathode produces resistive heating in a quantity Pdetermined by the equation:

P=I×V  (1)

where P is the resistive power consumption, I is the current and V isthe voltage between the points of the conductive region in contact withthe anode and the cathode. As depicted in FIG. 4, the resistive heatingin the conductive region 102 raises the temperature therein and in thefirst semiconductor region 110 in contact therewith. Since the currentwithin the conductive region is determined by the voltage between theanode and cathode divided by the resistance therebetween, the amount ofresistive heating P can be determined alternatively as:

P=V ² /R  (2)

where again V is the voltage between anode and cathode and R is theresistance between the anode and the cathode. Therefore, achieving aconductive region which produces a correct amount of heating is afunction of the voltage as well as the resistance between the anode andthe cathode. The resistance of the conductive region 102 and the firstsemiconductor region 110 each contribute to the resistance R. However,in most cases only the resistance of the conductive region 102 need beconsidered because the resistance of the conductive region typically ismuch less than that of the first semiconductor region.

To achieve sufficient resistive heating in accordance with therelationship P=V²/R, the conductive region 102 must be sufficientlyresistive to produce a voltage drop V which permits the resistiveheating. However, the resistance of the conductive region 102 cannot beso great as to make the quantity of resistive heating small. For thisand other reasons, in one example, the conductive region can beimplemented by a layer of metal silicide electrically contacting thefirst semiconductor region. Silicide typically is at least 10 times lessresistive than typical heavily doped semiconductor material. However,silicide is significantly more resistive than metal. To achieve thecorrect amount of heating it may be necessary to provide the conductiveregion 102 as a metal silicide layer without any other layer extendingparallel to the silicide layer having lower resistance than suchsilicide layer. In such case, the metal silicide layer will be the layerhaving the lowest electrical resistance between the edges of the anodeand the cathode in the antifuse.

As further shown in FIG. 4, when a programming voltage is appliedbetween the anode and the cathode, the resistance across the conductiveregion 102 heats the conductive region and the first semiconductorregion 110 in contact therewith. In the example shown in FIGS. 3 and 4,the heating of the first semiconductor region causes a dopant in thefirst semiconductor region to be driven therefrom, i.e., to diffuseoutwardly, from the first semiconductor region 110 towards the secondsemiconductor region 112. In the example shown in FIG. 4, a dopant suchas boron can be driven outwardly from the p+ doped first semiconductorregion 110 into the third semiconductor region. As a result of theheating, the edge of the p+ doped first semiconductor region moves froman original location 140 to a post-heating location 142 which canoverlap the edge 150 of the second semiconductor region 112. In somecases, the heating may also be sufficient to drive boron outwardly fromthe second semiconductor region 112 into the third semiconductor region114, as illustrated by the movement of the edge of the secondsemiconductor region from an original location 148 before programming toa post-heating location 150. However, because the second semiconductorregion in this embodiment is disposed at a greater distance from theconductive region 102 which is the source of the heating, the distancethat the edge of the second semiconductor region moves from location 148to 150 typically is not as great as the distance by which the edge ofthe first semiconductor region moves between locations 140 and 142.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the edges of the first and secondsemiconductor regions overlap after programming the antifuse. However,in some cases, after applying the programming voltage, the edge of thefirst semiconductor region may move closer to the second semiconductorregion without actually overlapping. In such case, it may still bepossible to permanently decrease the resistance of the antifuse by oneor more orders of magnitude when the distance between the final edges ofthe first and second semiconductor regions is small. For example, whenthe edges of the first and second semiconductor regions are stillseparated from each other after programming but by a very small distanceof only a few nanometers, tunneling currents can still significantlyreduce the resistance between the first and second semiconductor regionsin the programmed device. In addition, by controlling the amount of themovement of the edge of the first semiconductor region as a result ofprogramming the antifuse, other electrical characteristics of the fieldeffect transistor behavior of the antifuse can be changed such as thesaturation current, the threshold voltage, and the sub-threshold leakagecurrent. The change of these characteristics can be exploited for avariety of applications. The above description of the operation of theantifuse is centered on the change of the off current of the fieldeffect transistor as a result of programming. However, an applicationwhich is based on a change in one or more other electricalcharacteristics of the antifuse can also be within the scope of theinvention.

The process of programming the antifuse can be carried out withoutmelting the material of either the conductive region 102 or the firstsemiconductor region in contact therewith. In this way, the antifuse canbe programmed in a less violent manner with more predictable resultsthan many known electrically programmable fuses and antifuses. Greaterreliability can be achieved when the programming of the antifuse doesnot rely on the violent destruction of a thin dielectric layer, in themanner that some electrical antifuses require, and does not scatterconductive material within a confined volume, in the manner that someelectrical fuses operate.

Typically, when the programming voltage is applied, the antifuse isadapted to heat at least a portion of the first semiconductor region toa temperature greater than 700° C. One or more other parts of the body101 may also reach a temperature of 700° C. during programming. In aparticular case, at least a portion of the first semiconductor regionand possibly one or more other parts of the body 101 reach a temperaturegreater than 700° C. during programming.

In a particular embodiment, the magnitude of the voltage applied betweenthe anode and the cathode to program the antifuse is not greater thanthe magnitude of the voltage used to operate other devices on the samechip. For example, when the chip includes field effect transistors forwhich a voltage having a magnitude of one volt is applied between gateand source terminals, the magnitude of the voltage applied between theanode and the cathode for programming the antifuse can be one volt orless. In this way, the antifuse can be programmed using a power supplyvoltage which is available for other purposes on the chip, thus avoidinga need to provide a special power supply voltage for programming theantifuse.

The change in the resistance of the antifuse between the cathode and theSense contact is illustrated in FIG. 5, which shows that, even on alogarithmic scale, the resistance undergoes a step change between aninitial before-programming value 202 and a post-programming value 204.The resistance of the antifuse before and after programming between thefirst and second semiconductor regions can be determined by appropriatecircuitry connected to at least the cathode 108 (FIG. 1) and the sensecontact 124. The resistance typically is determined primarily by theresistance between the first and second semiconductor regions 110, 112.Programming of the antifuse typically causes a permanent reduction inthe resistance by one or more orders of magnitude. In a particularembodiment, the resistance of the antifuse before the antifuse has beenprogrammed can be greater than 100,000 ohms, and can be less than 10,000ohms after the antifuse has been programmed. In a particular case, theprogramming of the antifuse can reduce the resistance between the firstand second semiconductor regions by three to ten orders of magnitude.

The reduction in resistance greatly increases the amount of currentwhich the antifuse conducts when the voltage on the gate is at a levelwhich fully turns off transistor conduction that might otherwise occurbetween the first and second semiconductor regions of the antifuse. FIG.6 is an illustrative example which plots the amount of current conductedby the antifuse in the before-programming state and in thepost-programming state. The programmed or unprogrammed state of theantifuse can be determined at any time by appropriately biasing the gate130, Sense contact 124 and cathode 108 and detecting whether an amountof current conducted between the cathode 108 and the Sense contact 124corresponds to the programmed state or to the unprogrammed state. Thevoltage between the gate and the cathode 108 should be sufficient toswitch off conduction between the first and second semiconductor regionswhen the antifuse has not yet been programmed. In one example, when thefirst and second semiconductor regions have p-type conductivity, and thethird semiconductor region has n-type conductivity, the cathode can beheld at a “low” voltage such as ground, and a “high” voltage can beapplied to the Sense contact 124 and the gate. The gate of the antifusecan either be permanently tied to the high voltage, or can be raised tothe high voltage at least whenever detecting the state of the antifuse,i.e., detecting whether or not the antifuse has been programmed. One waythe state of the antifuse can be detected is to hold the gate and theSense contact 124 at a suitable high voltage and detecting an amount ofcurrent through the Sense contact 124.

In one embodiment, the high and low voltages can be the same high andlow voltages which represent the logic levels of transistors (e.g.,field effect transistors) provided on the same integrated circuit chipas the antifuse. Therefore, when the logic levels used on the chip and 1V for “high” and 0 V (or ground) for “low”, the voltages used to biasthe antifuse can also be 1 V and 0 V. In another embodiment, one or bothof the high or low voltages can be different from the high and lowvoltages used as logic levels for transistors of the same chip.

As seen in FIG. 6, when the antifuse is biased as indicated above, theamount of current 302 conducted by the antifuse in thebefore-programming state is very small. In that state, the amount ofcurrent can be less than 1 microampere, and typically is one to severalorders of magnitude smaller than 1 microampere, for example, 1nanoampere (10⁻⁹ amperes). On the other hand, after the antifuse hasbeen programmed, the amount of current 304 conducted by the antifuse canbe one or several orders of magnitude higher than the current in thebefore-programming state. In that case, the amount of current canincrease to a value of about 10⁻³ amperes (1 milliampere).

In a variation of the above-described embodiment, the first and secondsemiconductor regions 110, 112 can have n-type conductivity (with n+dopant concentrations) and the third region can have p-typeconductivity. In such example, when the semiconductor region consistsessentially of silicon, the n-type dopant can be arsenic or phosphorus.In such case, the antifuse when unprogrammed would have a structuresimilar to that of an n-type conductivity field effect transistor(“NFET”). The process of programming the antifuse is similar to thatdescribed above (FIGS. 1-6). Detecting the programmed or unprogrammedstate of the antifuse should be done while avoiding transistorconduction between the first and second semiconductor regions 110, 112.To do so, the cathode can be held at a “low” voltage, i.e., a logic lowlevel such as 0 V (ground) and a “low” voltage such as ground can beapplied to the gate 130. The programmed or unprogrammed state of theantifuse can be determined by applying a “high” voltage to and measuringan amount of current through the Sense contact 124 under theseconditions.

FIG. 7 illustrates a variation of the above-described embodiment (FIGS.1-2) in which one of the dimensions of the active semiconductor regionhas been shortened. In this case, the active semiconductor region canhave a shorter dimension or width 400 in a direction in which the longdimension of the conductive region 406 extends and can have a greaterdimension or length 402 in a direction transverse to the direction ofthe long dimension of the conductive region 406. The resistance of theantifuse can be determined by detecting an amount of current throughSense contact 408 when applying a voltage between the contact 408 andone or both of the anode or cathode.

FIG. 8 illustrates an antifuse 500 according to another variation of theabove embodiment (FIGS. 1-2). In this case, the active semiconductorregion 502 includes a plurality of the first semiconductor regions 504which are connected together in parallel through conductors 505connected thereto. A plurality of second semiconductor regions 506 arealso connected together in parallel through conductors 508 connectedthereto. The first and second semiconductor regions have the sameconductivity type, as described above. The gate of the antifuse includesa gate 510 and a plurality of fingers 512 which separate the firstsemiconductor regions from the second semiconductor regions. Thirdsemiconductor regions (not visible in FIG. 8), having a differentconductivity type than that of the first and second semiconductorregions, underlie the gate 510 and the fingers 512 and separate thefirst semiconductor regions from the second semiconductor regions. Theconductive region 524 can overlie a semiconductor region which haseither the same conductivity type as the first and second semiconductorregions or has the same conductivity type as the third semiconductorregions. In one preferred embodiment, the conductive region 524 isjoined to a semiconductor region which has the same conductivity type asthe first and second semiconductor regions and is heavily doped. Inanother embodiment, the conductive region 524 is joined to asemiconductor region having the same conductivity type as the thirdsemiconductor regions, and which can be doped the same as the thirdsemiconductor regions or be more heavily doped. When a programmingvoltage is applied between the anode 514 and the cathode 516 asdescribed for the preferred embodiment, for example, with respect toFIGS. 1-6 above, the conductive region 524 heats up, causing a dopant inthe first or second semiconductor regions or both to diffuse outwardlytherefrom. At the same time, the dopant in the conductive region 524 candiffuse outwardly. Similar to the above-described programming operation,with sufficient heating, the edges of the first or second semiconductorregions, the semiconductor region underlying the conductive region, or acombination of them, move to an extent that causes the resistance of theantifuse 500 to permanently decrease by one or more orders of magnitudeas compared with an initial resistance value before the antifuse isprogrammed. To sense the state of the antifuse: whether the antifuse hasbeen programmed or not, a voltage can be applied to the gate 510 andfingers 512 which fully turns off transistor conduction of the antifuse.Conductors 508 can be electrically connected with the cathode 516 andthe state of the antifuse can be determined by monitoring electricalbehavior at conductors 505 connected to first semiconductor regions 504.

FIG. 9 illustrates an antifuse according to another variation of theembodiment above (FIGS. 1-2). The antifuse device incorporates an anode602 which also functions as the sense contact. As in the above-describedembodiment (FIGS. 1-2) the active semiconductor region 604 is a unitarybody of monocrystalline semiconductor material which includes first andsecond semiconductor regions 608, 610 having the same first conductivitytype. The first and second semiconductor regions are separated by athird semiconductor region having a second conductivity type which isdifferent from the first conductivity type. In FIG. 9, the thirdsemiconductor region is hidden from view by a gate 612 which extendsover the same, such that the body of the antifuse and the gate operateas a field effect transistor before the antifuse is programmed. The gate612 has the same function as in the above-described embodiment (FIGS.1-2), as well an additional function in turning field effect transistoroperation fully on, so as to operate the second semiconductor region 610as a cathode during programming. A conductive region 606, such asdescribed above (FIGS. 1-2) has a long dimension (length) extendingbetween the anode 602 and the first semiconductor region 608. In thisway, the long dimension of the conductive region 606 extends in adirection 616 which is transverse to a direction of the long dimensionof the gate 612.

During an operation in which the state of the antifuse is sensed, thegate 612 can be biased at a voltage which keeps transistor conductionturned off between the first and second semiconductor regions of theantifuse. For example, when the first and second semiconductor regionshave p-type conductivity, the bias voltage on the gate is set high toturn transistor conduction off. In one example, after programming theantifuse, the gate voltage 612 can be maintained at a bias voltage whichkeeps transistor conduction turned off.

In one embodiment, the antifuse can be programmed while biasing the gateat a voltage which permits transistor conduction between the first andsecond semiconductor regions 608, 610. A voltage then can be appliedbetween the anode/sense contact 602 and the contacts 614 connected tothe second semiconductor region 610. For example, when the first andsecond semiconductor regions have p-type conductivity and the thirdsemiconductor region has n-type conductivity, the voltage on the gatecan be set low, the voltage on the anode can be set high and the secondsemiconductor region 614 can be held at a lower voltage than the highvoltage. In one example, the voltage at contacts 614 connected to thesecond semiconductor region 610 can be held at ground. Under suchbiasing conditions, a current will flow between the anode and the secondsemiconductor region 610, which heats the conductive region 606 as wellas active semiconductor region 604. A temperature within the firstsemiconductor region 608 is raised sufficiently to cause a dopant withinthe first semiconductor region, and possibly the second semiconductorregion, to diffuse outwardly therefrom into the third semiconductorregion below the gate 612. This operation programs the antifuse in amanner as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-6 above. Thereafter,the bias voltage on the gate 612 is returned to a level which turns offtransistor conduction, and the programmed or unprogrammed state of theantifuse can be determined by a sensing operation as described above.

While the invention has been described in accordance with certainpreferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will understandthe many modifications and enhancements which can be made theretowithout departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention, whichis limited only by the claims appended below.

1. An antifuse, comprising: a unitary monocrystalline semiconductor bodyincluding first and second semiconductor regions each having the samefirst conductivity type being one of n-type or p-type, and a thirdsemiconductor region between the first and second semiconductor regionshaving a second conductivity type being one of n-type or p-type, thesecond conductivity type being opposite the first conductivity type; ananode and a cathode electrically connected with the first semiconductorregion; a region including at least one of a metal, a conductivecompound or an alloy of a metal contacting the first semiconductorregion and extending between the cathode and anode; and a contactelectrically connected with the second semiconductor region, whereinapplication of a programming voltage between the anode and the cathodeheats the first semiconductor region sufficiently to reach a temperaturewhich drives a dopant outwardly therefrom, causing an edge of the firstsemiconductor region moves closer to an adjacent edge of the secondsemiconductor region, thus permanently reducing electrical resistancebetween the first and second semiconductor regions by one or more ordersof magnitude.
 2. The antifuse of claim 1, wherein the edge of at leastthe first semiconductor region moves sufficiently to overlap theadjacent edge of the second semiconductor region.
 3. The antifuse ofclaim 2, wherein the resistance of the antifuse is higher than 100,000ohms before the antifuse has been programmed, and is less than 10,000ohms after the antifuse has been programmed.
 4. The antifuse of claim 2,wherein the application of the programming voltage reduces resistancebetween the first and second semiconductor regions by three or moreorders of magnitude.
 5. An integrated circuit chip including theantifuse of claim 2, further comprising a field effect transistor,wherein the magnitude of the programming voltage is not greater than themagnitude of a gate-source voltage usable to switch the field effecttransistor from fully off to fully on operation.
 6. The antifuse ofclaim 5, wherein the application of the programming voltage causes achange in an electrical characteristic of the field effect transistor ofthe antifuse, including at least one of saturation current, thresholdvoltage, off current, and sub-threshold leakage current.
 7. The antifuseof claim 1, wherein the contact is usable to measure an electricalcharacteristic to detect whether or not the antifuse is in a programmedstate.
 8. The antifuse of claim 1, wherein application of theprogramming voltage heats the body to a temperature sufficient to causemovement of the edge of the first semiconductor region sufficient toproduce the one or more order of magnitude reduction in resistancewithout melting either the silicide region or the semiconductor materialof the body.
 9. The antifuse of claim 1, further comprising a gateoverlying the third semiconductor region.
 10. The antifuse of claim 9,wherein the anode and the cathode are spaced apart in a directionparallel to the length of the gate.
 11. The antifuse of claim 9, whereinwhile in the unprogrammed state, the first and second semiconductorregions are separated by a distance comparable to the width of the gate.12. The antifuse of claim 9, including a plurality of the firstsemiconductor regions and a plurality of the second semiconductorregions, wherein the gate includes a plurality of fingers, eachseparating a second semiconductor region from a first semiconductorregion.
 13. The antifuse of claim 1, wherein the body is adapted toreach a temperature greater than 700° C. under application of theprogramming voltage.
 14. The antifuse of claim 1, wherein the antifuseis adapted to cause movement in at least the edge of the firstsemiconductor region sufficient to produce the one or more order ofmagnitude reduction in resistance under application of the programmingvoltage for a period of less than 1000 microseconds.
 15. The antifuse ofclaim 14, wherein the antifuse is adapted to reach a temperature ofgreater than 700° C. in the body and to cause movement in at least theedge of the first semiconductor region sufficient to produce the one ormore order of magnitude reduction in resistance under application of theprogramming voltage for a period of less than 50 microseconds.
 16. Theantifuse of claim 2, wherein the body is provided in an activesemiconductor device layer of a silicon-on-insulator (“SOI”) substrate,the SOI substrate including a bulk semiconductor layer and a burieddielectric layer separating the active semiconductor device layer fromthe bulk semiconductor layer.
 17. An antifuse, comprising: a unitarymonocrystalline semiconductor body including first and secondsemiconductor regions each having the same first conductivity type beingone of n-type or p-type, and a third semiconductor region between thefirst and second semiconductor regions having a second conductivity typebeing one of n-type or p-type, the second conductivity type beingopposite the first conductivity type; a gate overlying the thirdsemiconductor region, the gate having a long dimension extending along adirection in which the third semiconductor region extends; a conductiveregion including at least one of a metal, a conductive compound or analloy of a metal contacting the first semiconductor region, theconductive region having a long dimension extending in a directiontransverse to a direction of the long dimension of the gate; an anodespaced apart from the first semiconductor region in a direction of thelong dimension of the conductive region; and a contact electricallyconnected with the second semiconductor region, wherein application of aprogramming voltage between the anode and the contact while biasing thegate to turn field effect transistor operation of the antifuse fully onheats the first semiconductor region sufficiently to reach a temperaturewhich drives a dopant outwardly therefrom, causing an edge of the firstsemiconductor region to move closer to an adjacent edge of the secondsemiconductor region, permanently reducing electrical resistance betweenthe first and second semiconductor regions by one or more orders ofmagnitude.
 18. A method of programming an antifuse, comprising:providing an antifuse having a body including first and secondsemiconductor regions, the first and second semiconductor regions havingthe same first conductivity type being one of n-type or p-type, and athird semiconductor region between the first and second semiconductorregions having a second conductivity type being one of n-type or p-type,the second conductivity type being opposite the first conductivity type,the antifuse having an anode and a cathode electrically connected withthe first semiconductor region, and a conductive region including atleast one of a metal, a conductive compound of a metal or an alloy of ametal contacting the first semiconductor region and extending betweenthe cathode and anode, and a contact electrically connected with thesecond semiconductor region; and applying a programming voltage betweenthe anode and the cathode to heat the first semiconductor regionsufficiently to reach a temperature which drives a dopant outwardlytherefrom, causing an edge of the first semiconductor region to movecloser to an adjacent edge of the second semiconductor region, thuspermanently reducing electrical resistance between the first and secondsemiconductor regions by one or more orders of magnitude.
 19. The methodof claim 18, wherein the step of applying the programming voltage causesthe body to reach a temperature greater than 700° C.
 20. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the step of applying the programming voltage isperformed for a period of less than 1000 microseconds.
 21. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the step of applying the programming voltage isperformed for a period of less than 50 microseconds and is sufficient tocause the body to reach a temperature greater than 700° C.